Now, several of Evangelia’s classmates are frequently hungry, she said, and one boy recently fainted. Some children were starting to steal for food, she added. While she did not excuse it, she understood their plight. “Those who are well fed will never understand those who are not,” she said.

The unemployment rate in Greece is now 27%

What the Greek government ought to do: cut old age pensions and government employee salaries and use the money to run soup kitchens for the poor.

"What the Greek government ought to do: cut old age pensions and government employee salaries and use the money to run soup kitchens for the poor."

Why would it be better to have the government provisioning food rather than handing out some money directly to citizens for them to spend on necessities? With the former, you have the government centrally planning some food distribution. Whereas with the latter, you have citizens using the money to spend on private businesses.